


Names have Power

by thecompletebookworm



Series: Rumbelle Showdown [10]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, References to bullying, Rumbelle Showdown 2018, child! Bae, parents and children dealing with the hard things in life, references to Emma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 05:24:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14742776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm
Summary: Prompts: skipped in line; back me up; baeBae got in trouble at school and now has to face the consequences.





	Names have Power

**Author's Note:**

> Written for round 4 of 2018 Rumbelle Showdown as Tilly

Before meeting Rum Gold, Belle hadn’t given much thought to children; it just seemed like a matter to be thought of when she was older and wiser.  But then Rum had strutted into Storytime at the library with Bae and she had promptly fallen in love with both.  

While’s Bae’s affection was easy to notice with its loud declaration and excited hugs, his father was harder to read and seemed completely obvious to her flirting. It was only his shy smiles that had stopped her from losing hope entirely. Now her little family was the best part of her life and it only seemed natural to take her break at quarter to three so she could pick up Bae from the elementary school.  

The walk was short and the fall breeze delightful after so many hours inside. She waved to Mrs. Nolan and Bae’s friend Emma before slipping past the line of parents outside the school doors to head toward the playground. She could see Bae’s bright red boots scraping against the ground where he sat on the swing.

“Hey buttercup, how was school today?”

He resolutely stared at the ground and handed her a note addressed to the parents of Mr. Baden Gold. Her face darkened as she read it.

“I didn’t mean to.”

She looked at his sad face with its puffy eyes. “I know sweetheart, but we’ll have to talk about this with your Papa.”

“But he’s going to be mad.”

Belle offered her hand. “All the more reason to talk to him, Bae.”

“You’ll back me up though, right?”

“I think I need to know what happened first.  How about you tell me at Granny’s and then you can tell Papa when he gets home?

He hopped off the swing. And although his feet dragged on the way to Granny’s he was at least a little more like the little boy she fell in love with.  

* * *

Gold exchanged a look with Belle before heading upstairs to Bae’s room.  All the parenting books he had read when Milah had left, said this would happen at some point.  His bubbly boy would grow sullen and rebellious.  But still Bae seemed too young for teenage angst; he was eight for goodness sakes.   And yet his son had been in a fight.  He hoped Bae didn’t look worse for wear, because then it would be so much harder to muzzle the papa bear instinct.  

Bae sat curled up in the window seat, with Snuffles the bear wrapped tightly under his arm.  Even though his head was bent down, face pressing into the worn out fur, Rum could still see the tear tracks running down his son’s face.  As he closed the door, Bae’s face jerked up and he forcibly wiped the tears away.    

Every instinct was telling him to go cradle his son in his arms, but he needed to do this right. "I hear you punched Nick Bransen in the face today."  

Bae nodded resolutely, but his bottom lip shook as if he was holding back more tears.  

Gold pressed a hand to his forehead.  Screw the parenting books, he was going to do this his way.  He reached out and touched his son’s chin, making him look him in the eyes.  "I know you know better than that.  So what happened? Tell me your side of the story, Bae."  

Bae practically launched himself backwards.  "Don’t call me that anymore! It’s infantile! It’s Baden or even just Neal now!"  

Rum nodded.  "So they were making fun of your name?”

“I didn’t say that.”  Bae’s arms crossed tightly across his chest.  

“You didn’t have to.”  He pulled Bae into his lap, and had the sudden reminder that his son was growing up too fast, practically crushing him, but it was important Bae always knew how much his Papa loved him.   “Do you know what my full name is?"  

Bae’s frown turned into a look of curiosity.  "Isn’t it just Rum Gold?  So you got compared to some pirate alcohol, big deal, it’s not like they said anything gross."  

"What could they have possibly said gross about Bae?"  

Bae nestled into his father’s chest more, refusing to look him in the eyes. "So Emma and I were in line for lunch and Nick Branson and his gang cut in front of us.  And I kind of just let it go.  It’s not like it’s a big deal.  But Emma wanted a lunch lady because it just wasn’t fair and you know how serious she takes fairness."  

Gold nodded and Bae continued his story, picking up his pace as if he could just speak fast enough his father wouldn’t be able to comprehend his embarrassment.  

"So she goes ‘I’ll be right back with Mrs. Miller, Bae’ and then Nick starts gagging and making kissy faces.  But I don’t get it. So he acts all superior because he’s got a sister in middle school and don’t I know that Bae means before anyone else, so Emma’s my girlfriend, and so I punched him. But then Mrs. Miller was there, and-”

“And she sent home the note.” Gold pinched the bridge of his nose.  It was better than he expected honestly.  Though with it being the age of cooties, he could sort of understand why his son was upset, it certainly didn’t make it right. “You do realize that there are a lot of mean, gross people in the world and we can’t go about punching them or turning them into slugs or whatever else we might feel like."  

Bae nodded.  "I know Papa.  I just got so angry and then it just happened.”

“Well I had your temper too when I was your age.”  Still did, if he was being honest with himself. “And I know boys can be mean. Imagine what they said to me when they knew my name was Rumplestiltskin."  

Bae’s face practically lit up. "But that’s so silly?”

“See?  Your grandfather was quite the jokester.” And cruel enough to know exactly what he was doing, but he wouldn’t tell Bae that. “But you get used to jokes and if it’s easier to go by something else, sometimes you do.  So if you really want don’t wall to be called Bae anymore, I’ll certainly try, but it certainly seems fitting to me.”

Bae gave him a skeptical look.  "Why?“

"Because to me, you really do come before anyone else."  

Bae gave a shriek of indignation, but accepted his father’s hug.  

Belle was waiting for Rum when he got back into the hallway.  "You handled that well.”

“Names have power, especially in the wrong hands."  

"Well I hope you don’t mind the fact I know your full name now.  I promise I’ll make it more enjoyable.”

She gave him a passionate kiss, and in that moment he could envision a scenario where his name would sound very good indeed.  


End file.
